Side Notes 4/27/10

I wanted to take a moment to catch up on some stuff that I have been slowly collecting over the past week.

#1 – MLB Baseball Network has announced that Phillies Broadcaster Tom McCarthy and MLB Network announcer Mitch Williams will be the Televised broadcast team for the Triple A All Star game to be held at Coca Cola Park in Allentown, PA.

Matt Provence is the Voice of the Ironpigs! He has been the Voice since the Ironpigs came to be in 2008 and the fans want to hear his voice calling the biggest game in Coca Cola Park history so far! Show your support for the Ironpig’s Broadcast team!

Of course, Matt and Jon Schaffer will be on the radio broadcast but I’m sure an opportunity to showcase themselves on national tv would be a great reward to them for all the hard work they’ve put in over the past couple of years, contributing to the success of the Ironpigs.

I see this almost as an insult to the Lehigh Valley. In years past, the game was broadcast on ESPN2 and has always included a local broadcaster as part of the team. Who does MLB Network select? Tom McCarthy. McCarthy was the radio play by play broadcaster for the Phillies from 2001-2005 and returned to Philadelphia to call TV play by play after the passing of the great Harry Kalas. Nothing against this guy but this guy is Philadelphia. This guy is not the Lehigh Valley! When people ask where you live, do you tell them Philadelphia? No.. you say the Lehigh Valley! Why should the Lehigh Valley sit back and let themselves be relegated as a bunch of Philadelphia worshipers? The Lehigh Valley has a great diversity of people who are of various backgrounds and home towns. Haven’t noticed this? Last season after Michael Taylor completed a cycle and the Pigs came through with a walk off victory I saw, with my own eyes, a NY native Yankees fan hugging and celebrating the win by hugging and high fiving a born and bred Red Sox fan. I know I am stretching this paragraph out a bit but I feel strongly that the Lehigh Valley should represent ourselves and not let big media outlets decide that we should be content with a “Philadelphia” representative. And what about this Mitch Williams guy? He had one quality year (topped off with two blown saves in the World Series) and all of a sudden he is Mr. Philadelphia too? Come on… isn’t this the same guy who was hawking salsa at the Lehigh Valley Mall a couple years ago?

If you feel the same as I do.. we have a petition/group on facebook. Below is a link. Feel free to join, pass on to your friends and/or ignore. It’s up to you.
Join petition to have Matt Provence call the 2010 AAA All Star Game

#2 Noise Nation member Matt Metal hosts a Rockin metal music show on WXLV on Friday nights from Midnight to 2:00AM. He often shows up early and plays some good tunes and is always open for requests. 90.3 FM or online at http://www.wxlvradio.com/

#3 The Ironpig’s Radio Network is holding Saturday extended pregame shows at Pitchers Sports Bar & Grill from 5:00 to 6:00pm prior to Ironpig Saturday home games. I went to the last one and we had a great time. Matt and Jon are happy to get your input on the team and some good trivia contests too. I do recall a sign that Pitchers also has a $5 pitcher special all day, every day. A $5 pitcher before the game or a $5 bottle at the game? You do the math.

#4 I haven’t promoted the Noise Nation Facebook, Twitter or iPhone app in a while. All searchable and links are located in the header of this blog.

That’s all I have for now.. tuning into tonight’s game with my new radio. Hoping for the Pigs to pull one out in the cold weather of Rochester.